U.S. stock futures consolidate; Citi, MetLife off

NEW YORK (MarketWatch)—U.S. stock market futures consolidated Wednesday following Wall Street’s rally in the prior session, with Citigroup Inc., MetLife Inc. and SunTrust Banks Inc. under pressure in pre-open action after falling short in the Federal Reserve’s bank stress tests.

Stock-index futures remained nearly unchanged after government data showed U.S. import prices climbing 0.4% last month from January, just under expectations. The first increase was chalked up to the recent spike in energy costs.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJM2
pared gains, lately up 5 points to 13,114.

European stocks provided a positive tone, taking a cue from the strong close for Wall Street on Tuesday, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index (SXXP) up 0.6% to 271.20.

On Tuesday, the Nasdaq Composite
COMP, -2.02%
closed above 3,000 for the first time in 11 years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, -1.12%
rallied 217.97 points, or 1.7%, to 13,177.68, its largest one-day jump since Dec. 20, 2011, and highest level since December 2007.

The gains were inspired after strong retail-sales data and after the Federal Reserve, as expected, kept interest rates at record lows. The Fed also said it sees the U.S. economy slowly gathering steam.

Banks will be in focus on Wednesday, with not all the news so upbeat. Late Tuesday, the Federal Reserve released results of its stress tests, which measure the ability of financial institutions to withstand another credit crisis such as that of 2008.

In an otherwise largely positive result for U.S. institutions, Citigroup
C, -1.31%
and SunTrust Banks Inc.
STI, -1.24%
were among those that failed under a measure gauging how much capital they have set aside. Shares of Citi were down more than 4% in pre-market trading as SunTrust
STI, -1.24%
dropped 3.6%.

Fawad Razaqzada, market strategist at GFT Markets, said the failures of Citi and MetLife on the stress tests could fuel downside pressure for Wall Street.

“This could well be compounded by the fact that the U.S. economic calendar is set for a relatively quiet day ahead, leaving traders otherwise struggling to find some meaningful direction,” Razaqzada said in emailed comments.

With earnings news now thin on the ground, said Razaqzada, “the question now will be that given the Dow has made the jump well clear of 13,000—a level that provided repeated resistance in the second half of February—can the rally be extended?”

In other corporate news, shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc.
LNG, -3.11%
fell in pre-open trading after the company said it will sell 17 million shares of common stock in an underwritten public offering. Read more in Stocks to Watch.

In commodities, gold futures for April delivery
GCJ2
were under pressure, down $50.40, or 3%, to $1,6543.80 an ounce, as a lack of clues on future easing measures from the Fed dented interest in risk-averse investments like gold.

And April crude
CLJ2, +0.18%
fell 49 cents to $106.22 a barrel, also in electronic trade.

The dollar edged higher, with the ICE dollar index
DXY, -0.21%
standing at 80.364, up from 80.231 late Tuesday.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only. Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.